Drilling down on condition-specific mobile apps

June 24, 2015 | Frank Irving - Editor

When data analytics company IMS Health started researching mobile health activity two years ago, doctors strongly indicated that they wanted to recommend appropriate apps for their patients. But only about 30 percent actually did so — primarily because it was difficult to assess and pick the right ones from among thousands of choices.

"They didn't know which apps had the highest clinical value, and told us we should be creating tools that would provide clarity and transparency," said Matt Tindall, general manager of consumer solutions at IMS Health.

In response, the company set to work on AppScript, a discovery and distribution platform that helps physicians and other healthcare professionals evaluate, select and prescribe mobile apps for their patients.

AppScript now covers about 65,000 apps that have been identified as healthcare-specific. A scoring scale of 0-100 reflects each app's functionality, developer history, clinical effectiveness, and reviews from both consumers and providers.

Medical Practice Insider used AppScript to filter out "condition management" apps from the platform's overall formulary, and then sorted them from highest to lowest rating score.